citrus chiffon cake

This Citrus Chiffon Cake is incredibly light and fluffy, and so yummy! Think of it like a lemon & orange flavored cloud. It's the perfect summer cake.

Y'all, I did it! I survived my first week of PA school! Barely, I will admit, and there has been lots and lots and lots of studying outside of classroom hours, but I don't see that changing anytime soon. This is the life I have chosen and this is how it's gonna go. 😉 But in more exciting news, I made you some delicious, life changing Citrus Chiffon Cake. This baby is somewhere between an angel food cake and a traditional cake, and it's basically the best thing ever! Think of it like a citrus-flavored cloud. So, so good!

I made a very similar cake a couple weeks ago for a customer, and since it got rave reviews from her and her friends, I figured I needed to recreate it for myself! Hers was just a lemon chiffon, but I decided to change mine up a little by adding both lemon and orange zest, as well as a bit of Fiori di Sicilia essence to create a citrus chiffon cake. In case you've never tried it, Fiori di Sicilia is an Italian citrus and vanilla extract! I used it for my homemade panettone to give it that traditional Italian Christmas cake flavor, but just a drop in here is perfect to boost that orangey flavor.

I can't believe that in all my years of baking and experimenting, I had never made a chiffon cake! This is very similar to an angel food cake {which I have also yet to make!}, but instead of just using beaten egg whites as the base, chiffon cake also uses the egg yolks and some other traditional cake ingredients to make it a bit more substantial but still ridiculously fluffy. It's so incredibly good, and definitely a treat to try making at least once! This citrus chiffon cake, despite lacking any chocolate component, was completely gone in my household in less than 24 hours. That's how you know it's amazing! 😉 It deserves a spot in your house too. Happy baking!

{recipe adapted from Sand and Sisal}

Print Recipe

citrus chiffon cake

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course: Cakes

Servings: 12

Author: Valentina | The Baking Fairy

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup + ¾ cup sugar {separated}
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup milk
• zest of 1 lemon
• zest of ½ orange
• 1 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia essence {optional}
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 egg yolks + 6 egg whites {separated}
• ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Instructions

• First, preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare an ungreased tube pan or angel food cake pan, and set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and ½ cup of the granulated sugar.
• Add in the egg yolks, milk, vegetable oil, lemon and orange zest, and the extracts.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, stir the egg whites until lightly foamy. Add in the cream of tartar, then bump the speed up to medium, and slowly add in the ¾ cup of sugar as it mixes. Once the sugar has been completely incorporated, boost the speed up to high, and mix until stiff peaks form and the mixture resembles thick meringue {7-8 minutes}.
• Very gently stir the meringue into the prepared cake batter, being careful to not deflate the egg whites.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan {be sure to NOT grease it!}, and bake for 55-60 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and doesn't jiggle, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• As soon as you take the cake out of the oven, invert the pan upside down to rest on its feet, or onto a bottleneck if your pan does not have feet.
• Let cool completely, then carefully run a knife along the edge of the pan before removing from pan.
• Serve as-is, or with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Enjoy!

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